Sunday, March 1, 2015

Thinking Green! March 1st: Slice of Life Challenge #SOL15

Thinking Green, but Settling for a Thick, Unending Carpet of White

I've decided to take the leap and join the rest of the Slicers out there, and join their mission to sprinkle story slices around the blogosphere! I am no stranger to blogging, like many of the rest of the Slicers, I am followed around by a tribe of ten year olds for 180 days each year. I love my job, my kids, my hometown, and most of all I love my family...even though we are spread out across the United States.

Today, I'm thinking green, regardless of what I'm seeing outside my window! My nephew visited with his beautiful wife and three gorgeous kids, and while I watched them out in my own backyard, halfway up to their waists swimming in the layers of cold white powder, something inside me was in flashback mode. I caught myself picturing them out there on another day, surrounded by greenery, rolling down the hillside and climbing my dogwood tree.

Springtime in Newtown!

I blinked and a beautiful cathedral, the back trail at Fairfield Hills came to mind, I could feel the warmth of the sun, see the dappled pavement, and just about reach up and touch the tip of those green leaves at the top of those newly minted trees! My dog was off leash, chasing the sights and smells of spring.

And then...I blinked again, and reality--the grim sight of those white flakes falling endlessly from the sky. And just when I started to flip the switch to absolute dread, I heard it--the sound of laughter, and glee, and pure silliness out there in my yard.

It was then I realized they weren't seeing the snow in the same way I was. There was no dread. They were happy and amazed and filled with absolute joy.

Hope springs eternal...as Grandma used to say. And hope comes in many forms. The fiddleheads will appear, and the peepers will raise their voices in a mere few weeks. For now, I'm doing all I can to just hang on and remember, underneath all this white, a whole new world of green is getting ready to unfold! But today, it's not the green or the white, but the sound of that raucous, giggly laughter that lifts me up and gives me back that silly feeling of pure glee!

I love how you slice changed as you wrote...from the longing for spring in your voice to the contentment and delight as you welcomed the snow with the joy of a child! What a beautiful piece! I felt as though I could see through the window with you.

Subscribe To

About Me

I'm an early morning writer, and was an all day teacher (until recently!) for 32 years. I will always be 'Mom' to my three fully emancipated kids. And now, I have a beautiful Golden Retriever who follows me around all day! I wake long before dawn and spend my first waking hours in front of that blue screen out in my little gray cottage...following the many characters that inhabit this crazy brain of mine. I once had about 24 kids in tow on a daily basis, listening to my stories, and allowing me into their storied lives too. But now, they have become my most treasured memories...their writing, their laughter and all that they brought to class each day. But always and forever, I come home at night to a pretty terrific guy, who listens to all my education and writing blather...then tunes me out when he's had enough!